Seven Deadly Sins
by Alijandra
Summary: "Every Pureblood needs a Muggleborn whore." Hermione uttered, her stomach turning on account of her own false words. "Yes." Draco breathed, silver eyes flashing to her flushed pink pout. "I bet this is what my ancestors felt like…. rolling in the mud." Draco/Hermione, Snape/ Hermione.
1. Pride

**Chapter 1 Pride**

**_-Slytherin Dungeons- _**

**_ Potions Classroom_**

* * *

_ "Pride and dignity would belong to women _

_ if only men would leave them alone."_

* * *

It had been exactly two weeks and six meetings since Dumbledore and Severus had entrusted Hermione with the instructions on how she was to aid the Order.

'Seduce the enemy,' they had briefed her. And not just one, but many, harsh, evil, fault-finding men.  
The request had seemed odd at first, infuriating, degrading, not to mention- highly inappropriate as she was still considered a student of theirs, but in the end she forced a bit of logic into her new found ordeal.

The situation was 'delicate' she tried telling herself. Issues too complex and sensitive, under certain terms she wasn't entirely sure she understood were forced upon her because their was no one else for the job. The order couldn't be used in this matter. It was just too risky. It had to be done carefully, considerately, and with as much caution as possible. After all, why not use a Mudblood in the most unlikely of circumstances? No one would expect a Mudblood for an infiltrator.

The goal, her job so to speak, was to gain information- to find out how much or how little the opposition knew. The prime topic of her investigation- her best friend; Harry Potter.

After the start of her 7th year, Harry had been whisked away into hiding. No one, not even she was made aware of his location. Hermione missed him terribly, but she understood that it was for the better. It made perfect sense. The majority of parents feared sending their children to school for anticipation of an attack. Harry wasn't safe. Anyone within a mile radius of the-boy-who-lived was put at risk. The situation had to be rectified by any and all proper means necessary, and so it was. Harry was put into hiding, and so the attacks lessened. Problem solved. For now…

Just about everyone's sole comfort came from knowing that Dumbledore was still headmaster at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and that the ministry, no matter how ignorant or useless, was still intact and reluctantly involved in the hunt for Voldemort.

What frightened Hermione most, however, was that, the more time that passed, the stronger Voldemort and his band of death eaters became.

"Miss Granger." Professor Snape hissed from behind his desk, long slender flingers threading together in wait.

"…Sorry Professor." Hermione murmured, concentration turning back to him, and less on her unfortunate situation.

"Your attention span tonight has been lax- once again." He uttered, dark eyes looking her over in obvious irritation. "And don't slouch."

Hermione scooted up in her chair until her back was planted firmly against the back of the seat. She didn't normally slouch, but it was already approaching midnight, and it was well past her bedtime. Even on a bad night, homework rarely kept her up this late.

"Listen carefully, I know you don't take our lessons together any more serious then I would take a Muggle with a wand, however, your concentration while we are together is essential. I cant have you underestimating either you or myself in this matter, otherwise the pretense is useless."

"One could hardly consider this a study." Hermione murmured under her breath.

"Oh really," Snape mused. "Pray tell, Miss Granger, why is it that your failing so miserably at it? Surely the brightest witch of her age is aware, that anything worth perfecting requires a certain amount of study."

"Not enough to dedicate an entire lesson to. You seem to forget that there will be no section for this on the NEWTS, Professor." Hermione spit back.

"What is your point, Miss Granger?" He asked her, cocking a dark brow.

"That this whole situation is absurd. You do nothing but critique and criticize me for hours on end. This isn't teaching. I'm not learning anything. Its pure and simple ridicule!"

Snape merely chuckled at her incredulous outburst. "It wouldn't be ridicule if you'd listen. Oh how I wished a remedial course for someone with your lack of knowledge on the subject existed."

"Well, they certainly picked the wizard for the job. If anyone can teach me how to successfully interact with another human being, its you, Professor Snape."

Her reward for her snide remark- a black stare followed by a less amused exhale of breath.

"In this institution Miss Granger- I am exactly the type of wizard I want to be known as." He assured her, however, she was too busy coming up with musings of her own. Repugnant. Detached. Emotionally vacant. So many words came to mind before his next assertion.

"You see, I am a professor, you are my pupil. This is a school, you are a student. If I wanted to make friends and be liked, I would have picked something less occupational and more engaging. However, the fact of the matter still stands. This is a classroom, and every other night you enter this chamber after hours, expect a new lesson. Whether or not you chose to take it seriously is up to you, just know that the more difficult you make these late nights, the more stressful you make it on us both."

"Is that all, professor?" Hermione managed to ask through gritted teeth.

"Yes, and please, in the future try to refrain from shaking your leg whilst listing to someone speak about something you dislike. Its childish and unbecoming of a young lady." He told her. Hermione bit her tongue. "Now, class dismissed."

Hermione's knuckles were white as she gripped the arms of the chair to push herself up from her seat.

"Oh, and one more thing Miss Granger." Snape stated as she turned to leave. "Pride, envy, avarice - these are the sparks have set on fire the hearts of all men. The wise insights of Dante Alighieri. With subtle practice, you'd do well to remember it."

After what felt like the final jab, Hermione made sure to open and shut the classroom door with as much force as she could, hoping to at least cause him to cringe over the unnecessary amount of noise that she made.

Storming down the hall, Hermione didn't care that her footsteps were heavy and clicking against the ground as she walked, causing portraits to waken, no, this neither concerned nor affected her one bit. The fact of the matter was, her insufferable, displeasing, arrogant excuse for a tutor was right.

Hermione Jean Granger had no idea how to seduce a member of the opposite sex- how to charm, please, or manipulate another human being. These were not her gifts. These so called 'talents' didn't come naturally to her as they did others. The simple truth was, she was more likely to have a vision in one of Trelawney's lectures then she was of becoming a believable seductress.

However, a promise was a promise. Hermione agreed to find out as much as she could about what the enemy knew about her best friend. The least she could do was make an attempt to weasel or charm a few answers out of them.

* * *

_ "Pride makes us artificial and _

_ humility makes us real"_

* * *

**A/N:**_ Thank you all for reading, Please R&R! :)_


	2. Sloth

**Chapter 2_ Sloth_**

* * *

_"You must avoid sloth, that wicked siren." _

* * *

The next morning Hermione found it exceedingly difficult to drag herself out of bed and down to breakfast before the start of class. Any and all extra time permitted had to be invested in gaining knowledge- information, from those around her.

The problem; Hermione wasn't a gossiper, and she certainly didn't socialize with the people she was suppose to be discreetly interrogating.

Her course of action; flattery. Befriend the enemy. Well, It sounded simple enough.

Professor Snape seemed to be doing his part at least. Each student was assigned a lab partner for which they would be brewing and studying with for the next few weeks, and according to the work board, hers was Draco Malfoy.

"Tell me, _Granger,_" An irritated tone greeted. "Is is just me, or are you sitting at the wrong table?"

"We have co-lab today." Hermione told him matter-of-factly, trying her best to stare straight ahead and not make any sudden eye contact.

"For which I'm aware." He hissed. "However, your tainted Muggle Cauldron is leaving a mark on my desk- so move it!

Hermione refrained from rolling her eyes as best she could.

"We've been assigned as partners." She informed him through gritted teeth. _'Be nice',_ Hermione told herself. _'You're suppose to be nice!'_

Draco cursed under his breath. "You've got to be joking."

As the rest of the class found their places, Draco still refused to sit next to her. Instead he opted for a seat in the far back.

"Places everyone, places." A dismal voice yelled over all the chatter. It was professor Snape.

"I hope everyone found their partners okay. After all, I'm sure you have all figured out how to read a work board by now. If not, 50 points from each house who has any unwilling participants" Professor Snape's voice trailed out. "That being said- 50 points from Gryffindor!"

Hermione's eyes snapped up to Snape's narrowed brow. Surely he wasn't putting all the blame on her for all of this. Besides, she couldn't make Malfoy sit next to her if he really didn't want to.

"Miss Granger?" inquired Professor Snape. "Next to _which _of your pupils should you be seated?"

"Draco Malfoy." She let the name roll of her tongue like a wretched curse.

"Good. Find him, and take your seat." He commanded firmly, before swiftly turning around and making his way to the front of the class.

Hermione fought the urge to argue with her Professor as she slowly rose from her seat and gathered up her books and cauldron in order to take her place next to the vile snake smirking in the far back of the classroom.

"Try your best not to soil my things." Draco hissed as she sat down next to him.

Hermione bit her tongue. It shouldn't have been much of a surprise to her, but this was going to harder than anyone originally thought!

Hermione wasn't exactly sure how to act throughout the remainder of class. It wasn't like she could strike up a conversation about the whether and expect the vile git next to her to go along with it.

'_Think, Hermione, think!' _She thought frantically as she tapped her feathered quill against the desk.

"Do you know the answer to this question?" Hermione asked in a whisper, pointing to her paper.

"Yes." Draco replied arrogantly. "Do you?"

"I'm not sure.." She lied.

"Great." Draco hissed, rolling his eyes. "I figured the one good thing about having you as a partner, would be that you know what you're doing- now I've got nothing to go on to make this situation any more bearable."

Hermione sighed and sunk back into her chair. Deep down she knew, this plan of Dumbledore and Snape's wasn't going to work- so why bother trying!

At the end of class Professor Snape asked her to stay after.

"Yes, Professor?" She addressed him, waiting for the spoil of words that would soon be thrown her way.

"Take a seat, Ms. Granger." Snape said coldly.

Hermione did as he said, and sat across from him as he linked his fingers together, placing his chin on their bridge.

"Today, was the first day you were to set a new example of yourself." Snape stated. "I see you've neglected to show that through your appearance. Your unattractive know-it-all personality must have stayed the same as well."

Hermione smoothed her hands over her long wrinkled skirt. What exactly did he expect her to do that was different. Everyone at Hogwarts was required to wear a uniform!

Professor Snape rolled his eyes. "Stand up Ms. Granger."

Curious, Hermione did what she was told.

Snape walked from around his desk until he was face to face with her.

Using his wand, he whispered a few incantations, and then flicked his wrist.

Looking down, Hermione noticed her long wrinkled skirt was shorter, and now just barely covered her legs mid thigh. As for her knitted jumper, it was much tighter than before.

Hermione tried covering herself, but instead, Snape pushed her hands away from her chest.

"The under shirt needs to be undone." He told her.

Hermione's eyes widened, clearly her professor didn't understand the etiquette of personal space, and what that entitled.

Expertly, and with ease, Snape undid the first few buttons of her white undershirt, leaving a slight peek of her cleavage clearly visible.

Hermione backed away from him, wrapping her long dark cloak around her self to shield her indecency. "This is absurd."

"We are dealing with the desires of men, Ms. Granger, or have you forgotten that already!" asked her professor.

"This is so typical. This is how you want me to get attention? You want me to parade around my assets in hopes that I'll attract the opposition!" Hermione snapped in irritation.

"That is exactly what I want you do to!" Snape confirmed sharply.

Hermione huffed.

"You dressing to impress isn't at all typical Ms. Granger." said Snape, eyeing her over in her new and improved state. "In fact this is quite out of the ordinary for you. What I do find typical, is your delusional tactics on how to win back your disinterested Weasley friend."

"What are you talking about?" She asked despite the sting his words had brought her.

"Every day you find some way to please that ungrateful dimwitted buffoon." Snape reminded her. "Whether it be by doing his homework, or lying to others to get him out of trouble."

"My actions must make me a terrible person." Hermione whispered bitterly, her face growing red with embarrassment.

"No, just a fool!" Said Snape simply.

"If he doesn't act like the person you fell in love with, do not treat him like the person you once knew."

At Snape's words, a few tears dropped from her eyes to her flushed cheeks.

"That is something you would do well to remember." Snape told her. "You must be strong in this, confident, ready to reinvent yourself at a moments notice. If you are unable to do any of these things, this task is simply not for you!"

"Is that all, professor." Hermione asked him through gritted teeth, wanting desperately to leave.

"If we have a clear understanding of what is expected," Said Snape. "Then yes, it is."

Hermione nodded her head.

"Then you're dismissed." He exhaled coolly.

Hermione left professor Snape's classroom the same way she always did; Angry, irritated, and unbearably confused.

She still didn't understand why her Professors, especially Dumbledore, put her in this position to begin with. It didn't seem fair. The responsibility of it alone, was too much for an inexperienced girl her age. Perhaps one day, she'd get the answers she deserved. Until then, she'd have to perfect Professors Snape's lessons, and hope, with little disregard to the contrary, that she could succeed in what seemed like a losing battle.

* * *

_"We excuse our sloth under the pretext of difficulty."_

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**A/N:** Thank you all for reading, your critiques are much appreciated.


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